sincock



No. 620,857. Patented Mar. 7, |399.

D. SINCOCK. MOWING MACHINE. (Application med uly 1s, 189e.; (nu Model.) 2 sheets-sheet l.

@immillilnnwu N o. 620,857. l Patented Mar. 7, |899. D. SINCUCK.

Mowlm; MAcHmE.

(Application led July 1B, 1896.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 (No Nudel.)

TH: nofws PETERS to., PHoTaLxTNo., wAsmNoToN. c4

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID SINCOCK, OF CLYDE PAR-K, MONTANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO SOL. P. HEREN @n SONS AND GUY D. HUNTER, OF SAME PLACE.

llvlowINc-MACI-iINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 620,857', dated March 7, 1899.

Application filed July 18,1896. Serial No. 599|676. (No model.)

,To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID SINoocx, of Clyde Park, in the county of Park and State of Montana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mowing-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in mowing-machines, the object of the invention being to construct cutting mechanism for a mowing-machine which shall be simple and eectual in all respects in the performance of its functions.

With this object in view the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, as hereinafter set forth, and pointed out in the claim.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a machine, showing my improvements applied thereto. Fig. 2 is an enlarged detail in section. Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan of the finger-bar and cutters. Fig. 4 is an enlarged transverse section. Fig. 5 is a view in plan, enlarged, showing two connected knives or cutters; and Fig. 6 is a view in end elevation of these knives.

A represents the axle of the machine, B the carrying-Wheels, and C the tongue. A frame D projects forwardly from the axle at one side of the tongue and is connected at a point intermediate of its ends with said tongue by means of a brace c. A coupling-bar 1 2 is loosely connected at one end to the forward end of the frame D and the other end of said coupling-bar is pivotally connected to the inner end of the finger-bar E. Thrust-bar H is pivotally connected With the axle and inember 2 of the coupling-bar.

The finger-bar E is preferably made of steel and comprises a rectangular base-plate 3, having upwardly-projecting iianges 4 5 at its front and rear edges, and at the upper edge of the flange 4 a small lateral flange 6 is formed. A block 7 (which may be ofwood or metal, as desired) is located in the 4center of the finger-bar, so as to form channels or ways 8 9, the inner walls of which are facedA with steel strips 10 10. The upper face of the block 7 is recessed for the reception of steel plates 11 11, each having a flange 12 at its outer edge, and said anges l2 are so formed as to be disposed somewhat above and directly over the upper edges of the steel plates 10. The plates 11, with their flanges 12 and the upper edges of the plates 10, thus form ways 13 for the reception of the inner edges of plates 14, to which double-edged knives 15 are secured, said knives being adapted to project outwardly beyond the flange 6 and be supported (in part) by said flanges. The plates 14 are provided with open frames or loops 16, which depend Within the channels 8 9, and the frames or loops are loosely con nected together by means of links 17. The links 17 are so constructed that by bringing the forwardly-projecting points of the knives 15 toward each other the chain of cutters may be easily disconnected, thus facilitating the removal of the knives for sharpening them. The knives are thus carried by a series-of links which are loosely connected together by means of smaller links, and the endless chain thus formed passes over an idle sprocket-wheel 18. The idle sprocketwheel 18 at the free end of the finger-bar is provided with a hollow axle or spindle and is secured in position on the finger-bar by means of a bolt passing a slot in the finger bar. This arrangement provides for the perfect adjustment of the tension of the endless chain of cutters, which in their operation are subject to wear and consequent slacking of' the chain at the free end of the finger-bar, and a driven sprocket-Wheel 19 at the inner end of the finger-bar. This latter sprocketwheel and its driving mechanism will be described in detail farther on. Guard-fingers 2O are secured to the front side of the fingerbar by means of bolts 21, passing through flanges 22, projecting from said fingers, and through the upright fiange4 of the fingerbar, the heads of said bolts being countersunk in the inner face of said fiange. The guardfingers are further secured in position by means of rivets 23, passing through the flange 6 of the finger-bar, and these rivets may be made integral with the guard-fingers. A plate 24 is secured to and projects rearwardly IOC) from the rear upright liange 5 of the fingerbar, and at the free edge of this plate a small upright flange 25 is made. A guard-plate 26 extends over the entire linger-bar, one edge of said plate being inserted under the caps 27 of the guard-fingers and the other edge being secured to the small upright ange 25. By means of the plate 26 all the jointed parts of the cutting mechanism are protected. The plate 24, with its flange 25 and the rearwardlyprojecting portion of the guard plate 26, forms a guard 28 on the rear side of the finger-bar, through which guard the knives will pass, and thus be protected from conllict with the grass or with objects as the knives pass along the rear of the nger-bar. The guard 28 also protects the operator or other person from being injured by the knives as the latter pass along the back of the finger-bar. The free end of the finger-bar is provided with a shoe or runner 29 and the inner end of the finger-bar is provided with a shoe or run.

ner 30.

At the inner end of the finger-bar a frame or housing 3l is secured, in which the shaft a of the driven sprocket-wheel 19 is mounted. The shaft a and sprocket-wheel 19 and a bevel-pinion b are all cast in a single piece. A shaft c is mounted in the housing 3l at right angles to the shaft a., and on said shaft c two bevel-gears d e are mounted and adapted to be locked to the shaft c by means of a clutch f. A. tumbling-rod g, made of telescoping sections 7L 1I, (angular in cross-section,) is connected with the shaft c by means of a universal joint j. The telescoping tumbling-rod is also connected by means of a universal joint 7c. with a shaft m, mounted in the forward end of the frame D. A sprocketwheel n is secured to the shaft m and receives motion from a sprocket-wheel o on the axle A by means of a sprocket-champ. Thus motion will be transmit-ted from the axle to the shaft c and from the latter, by one or the other of the bevel-gears cl c, to the bevel-pinion Z2 and sprocket-wheel 19, by which latter motion will be transmitted to the endless chain of knives. When one edge of the knives becomes dull, the motion of the cutter-chain will be reversed by operating the clutch f, so as to unlock the bevel-gear CZ from the shaft cand lock the bevel-gear e thereto, or vice versa. B ymeans of the telescoping tumblingrod great flexibility of the iingerbar will be obtained without in any manner deterring from the eiilcient operation of the cutting mechanism.

In order to prevent all the knives at one side of the finger-bar from operating in connection with the guard-fingers simultaneously, said guard-lingers are so spaced that the distance from the center of one to the center of another will be about one-half inch less than the distance from the center of one knife to the center of the adjacent knife. By such arrangement the cutting power of the machine will be greatly facilitated.

My improvements are simple in construction and eectual in all respects in the performance of their functions.

Various slight changes might be made in the details of construction of my invention without departing from the spirit thereof or limiting its scope, and hence I do not wish to limit myself to the precise details herein set forth. j

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In a cutting mechanism for a mowing-machine, the combination with a base-plate having front and rear [langes projecting upwardly from its longitudinal edges, a wooden bar disposed on said base-plate between said anges so as to leave a channel at each side, metal plates disposed in said channels alongside the sides of said Wooden bar, movable plates adapted to slide on said last-mentioned plates, knives secured upon said sliding plates and projecting over and beyond the front flange of the base-plate, iingers secured to said front flange, loops depending from said sliding plates and disposed within said chan nels,links connected loosely at their ends with successive loops, sprocket-wheels over which said loops and links pass, plates countersunk in the top of the wooden bar and having flanges overlapping the sliding plates, a plate proj ectin g rearwardly from the rear flange of the base-plate, and a plate covering said lastmentioned plate, the wooden bar and the plate thereon and the sliding plates to which the knives are secured.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DAVID SINCOCK.

Vitnesses:

W. H. BOWEN, D. A. MCCAW.

IOO 

